The Titans of Quezon continued to assert their dominance in the PSL President’s Cup playoffs and completed a sweep of previously No.1 team Biñan following an 86-67 triumph in Game 2 of their best-of-three semifinals series Thursday night at the Filoil-EcoOil Centre in San Juan.
Quezon bucked the absence of Ximone Sandagon, who suffered a fractured left cheekbone after he was inadvertently hit by Jimboy Estrada during a rebound play.
Sandagon went out of the game, but his absence wasn’t clearly felt by the rest of the Titans, who put together a solid game plan in completely outplaying the Tatak Gel.
Quezon hit 13 three-point shots and shot 51% from the field (29-of-56).
The Titans also displayed their bench depth as they produced 50 points, 11 more than their rivals.
Guard LJ Gonzales torched the opposition with 18n points, while his backcourt partner, Judel Fuentes contributed 14 to go along with four assists and picked up four steals.
Rodel Gravera and Will Gozum each tallied 10 and Topeng Lagrama chipped in nine points, all coming from beyond the arc, and RJ Minerva added eight for the Titans, who completed overcoming a twice-to-win disadvantage against Caloocan then beat the once mighty Biñan squad in consecutive games to punch its way to the championship round.
But what’s more impressive was the way Quezon defended as it kept KG Canaleta out of his comfort zone.
Canaleta was only good for seven points as his younger rivals were able to take turns shackling the former PBA star.
In the last two games of the Tatak Gel, the team could only score below 70 points as the Titans were busy grounding its counterpart.
The Titans will face the winner of the other semifinals pair between Nueva Ecija and San Juan.
